Individual drive lug for an endless rubber track

ABSTRACT

An individual replacement drive or guide lug for missing or worn lugs located on an inner circumference of various endless rubber tracks used on multi-surface vehicles. The lug comprises a body and a fastening including a bolt and washer. To install the drive lug properly, an inner surface of the track where the original vulcanized rubber drive lug was located must be prepared. When the original drive lug fails, it leaves an irregular surface and must be ground flat with the inner track belt substrate. The bolts are then secured through the track and the as to removably secure the lug to the inner surface of the track.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present in invention relates to endless rubber tracks used onmulti-surface vehicles used in various industries. More specifically,the present invention relates to drive or guide lugs that are formed ofvulcanized rubber and that are located on an inner circumference of therubber tracks.

2. Description of the Related Art

Rubber tracks on earth movers or other similar equipment are exposed toharsh environments of sharp rock, sand, ice, snow and mud for many hoursat a time. After 250 to 500 hours of use, the factory installed tracksstart losing portions of their reinforced rubber composition vulcanizeddrive or guide lugs. These rubber lugs interlock with openings in theequipment drive sprockets to drive the endless rubber track and theapplicable equipment. Once deterioration of a lug starts occurring,adjacent drive lugs must compensate for the deteriorated lug and sharethe drive torque pressure, which causes additional wear on the remaininglugs, until the most worn drive lugs completely break away from therubber track substrate. Drive lug deterioration will continue untiltotal drive system failure occurs, which means that one or more drivelugs will have to fracture to the point that they are non-functional. Itrequires four to seven drive lugs to make contact with a drive sprocketof the drive system for proper equipment operation. When total tractionfailure occurs due to missing drive lugs, the original equipmentmanufacturers recommend replacing the rubber track with a new track,which is expensive and results in lost operating time. With the presentinvention, field repair is possible, and the repair is permanent andallows for instant mobility and operation of the equipment.

The present invention allows for replacement of the drive lugs in thefield without having to obtain a new track and without having totransport the equipment or the track to a repair center, although thepresent invention has proven successful for both field and repair centerinstallation. In contrast, prior art original equipment rubber trackmanufacturers do not recommend replacing missing drive lugs caused bywear in the field. Instead, original equipment manufacturers onlyrecommend replacing the complete rubber track.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a reliable replacement drive lug forendless rubber track drives. The invention allows for repair andreplacement of torn, worn, broken, or missing drive lugs on endlessrubber track drives by providing a hard plastic drive lug that can beremovably and mechanically secured to a rubber track.

Use of the drive lugs of the present invention extends the life of thetrack, as the track does not have to be replaced as soon as one or moreof the vulcanized rubber lugs deteriorate. Additionally, the lugs can beeasily stored in repair tool boxes, the lugs are made of non-corrosivematerials, the durability and lifetime use of the lugs over OEMvulcanized rubber lugs is significantly extended, the lugs can be bondedto the track substrate mechanically rather than through a vulcanizedprocedure, allowing for on-site installation and repair, and uponexpiration of the track life, the lugs can be easily removed and reusedon a new track.

In sum, the present invention extends the life of the endless rubbertrack drive rather than replacing it expensive new track. The presentinvention also allows for field repair rather than maintenance shoprepair, thus allowing for owner repair of the equipment, rather thandealer repair. It eliminates many hours of downtime and provides forsignificant cost savings. The present invention has been tested and usedon equipment in Kansas and Missouri with outstanding success whileexposed to all types of harsh environments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the present invention am described in detail below withreference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drive lug of embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmented, vertical, and cross-sectional view of a rubberendless track illustrating the replacement drive lug of the presentinvention secured to an inner surface of the track and originalequipment manufacture drive lugs integral with the inner surface of thetrack.

The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specificembodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the drawing figures, and particularly FIGS. 1-2,embodiments of the present invention comprise an individual drive orguide lug 10 for replacement of an original equipment manufacture (OEM)lug 11 of an endless rubber track 12, such as those used on frontloaders, earth moving, and agriculture type equipment. The drive lug 10of embodiments of the present invention comprises a body 14 and afastening element 16 operable to removably secure the body 14 to therubber track 12. In embodiments of the present invention, the lug 10 ismade of rigid metallic and/or non-metallic material, such as plastic.Preferably, the material strength is equal to or greater than the OEMrubber vulcanized drive lugs 11 located on an inner circumference 18 ofthe endless rubber track 12 supplied by the original equipmentmanufacture. The body 14 of the lug 10 has a bottom 20 and a top 22, andthe top 22 is of a width less than a width of the bottom 20. The body 14of the lug 10 receives the fastening element 16, as described below. Inembodiments of the present invention, the lug 10 is machined or formedto a size generally corresponding to a size of the OEM lug 11.

The fastening element 16 comprises a bolt 26 and corresponding washer 23that can be physically separated from the body 14 of the lug 10. Thebolt 26 is preferably a full-thread grade 8 bolt configured to bereceived within the at least one opening of the body 14 of the lug 10.The bolt 26 is of sufficient length to extend through an outer surface30 of the endless rubber track 12, the bottom 20 of the body 14 of thelug 10, and through a minimum 80% of the body 14 of lug 10. The washer28 is preferably also grade 8 and is sized to match the grade 8 bolt 26.The washer 23 spreads the torque load to the outer surface 30 of thetrack 12 when the bolt 26 is tightened and further acts as a retainer toprevent the head of the bolt 26 from pulling through the outer surface30 of the track 12 when it is tightened.

In operation, the present invention is used to replace missing or worndrive lugs. The lug 10 of embodiments of the present invention can beinstalled by a user in the field or in a designated repair center, whichresults in a minimum amount of downtime and a significant cost savings.In addition the drive lug 10 of embodiments of the present invention canbe removed from retired endless rubber tracks and installed on activetracks that have missing lugs.

Prior to installation of the lug 10 of embodiments of the presentinvention, the rubber track 12 substrate must be properly prepared toallow for removable securement of the individual drive lug. When theoriginal drive lug fails, it leaves an irregular surface that must beground generally flat with an inner surface 32 of the innercircumference 18 of the track substrate. To achieve proper indexing, atemplate is placed over the outer surface 30 of the track 12 forlocating two holes (not shown) for the grade 8 bolts 26. The washer 28is placed next to a head 34 of the bolt 26, and the bolts 26 areinserted into the holes and through the rubber track 12. The replaceabledrive lug 10 is then placed over the bolts 26 on the inner surface 32 ofthe track 12 and opposite the head 34 of the bolts 26. A power impactwrench (not shown) is used to tighten the bolts 26 until the bolt head34 and washer 28 compresses into the outer surface 30 of the track 12.

Field installation is possible with the present invention, and removalof the track 12 is not necessary. Installation of the lug 10 is bestaccomplished by cleaning the track substrate in the same location of themissing lug(s). This allows the user to have a method to repair his/herown track rather than ordering a completely new track. This alsoprovides the user with a quick repair method and eliminates thepossibility of having excessive downtime when drive lug failure occurs.

After installation there is no need for torque, lubrication, ormaintenance of the drive lags 10. Additionally, the drive lags 10 of thepresent invention previously installed on retired tracks are availableto be removed and used a second time.

Accordingly, several advantages of the present invention are to providea quick method to repair existing rubber track drive lugs in a safe andeconomical manner, to extend existing rubber track life, to eliminateslippage due to worn drive lugs, and to provide individual replacementdrive lags that exceed the life of the original equipment lugs.

1. An endless rubber track for a multi-surface vehicle comprising: an outer surface about an outer circumference of the track; an inner surface about an inner circumference of the track; a plurality of original equipment manufacture drive lugs integral with the inner surface of the track; and at least one replacement drive lug installed on the track, the replacement drive lug including a body having a bottom and a top and sized to be secured to the inner surface of the endless rubber track, and a fastening element including at least one bolt for securing the body to the inner surface of the track, said fastening element operable to be secured through the outer surface of the track and the body of the lug, such that at least a portion of the bolt is at least partially external to at least one of the body and track.
 2. The endless rubber track as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bolt is physically separate from the body, such that the bolt can be physically separated from the body.
 3. The endless rubber track as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bolt includes a head, and at least part of the head is external to at least one of the body and track.
 4. The endless rubber track as claimed in claim 3, wherein when the bolt is secured to the track, the bolt does not extend past the top of the body of the lug.
 5. The endless rubber track as claimed in claim 3, wherein the fastening element further comprises a washer operable to prevent the head of the bolt from pulling through the outer surface of the track during installation of the lug.
 6. The endless rubber track as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body of the lug is formed of a non-metallic material.
 7. The endless rubber track as claimed in claim 5, wherein the body is formed of plastic.
 8. An endless rubber track for a multi-surface vehicle comprising: an inner circumference presenting an inner surface of the rubber track; an outer circumference presenting an outer surface of the rubber track; a plurality of original equipment manufacture drive lugs vulcanized on the inner surface of the track; a plurality of replacement drive lugs fastened to the inner surface of the rubber track for replacement of worn or broken original equipment manufacture drive lugs, each replacement drive lug including a body having a bottom and a top and secured to the inner surface of the rubber track, and a fastening element including at least one bolt for fastening the replacement drive lug to the inner surface of the track.
 9. The endless track as claimed in claim 8, wherein the bolt includes a head, and at least part of the head is external to at least one of the body and track.
 10. The endless track as claimed in claim 8, wherein the bolt does not extend past the top of the body of the lug.
 11. The endless track as claimed in claim 8, wherein the body of the lug is formed of plastic.
 12. The endless rubber track as claimed in claim 1, wherein the original equipment manufacture drive lugs are vulcanized on the inside surface of the track. 